Handcuff.



PLE. WOOD.

HANDGUFF. APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 1o, 190s.

930,01 4. Patented Aug. s, 1909.

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HENRY E. WOOD, OF BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO TOWER & LYON COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW' YORK.

HANDGUFF.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1909.

Application led August 10, 1908. Serial No. 447,700.

To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY E. VooD, a citizen of the United States of America, and residing at Bloomfield, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Handcus, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and 'use the same.

rlhis invention relates to handcuffs and the object thereof is to provide a lock therefor which has three positions, an unlocked, a spring locked and a fully locked; a further object being to provide means, exterior of said lock, for manually converting said lock from its open to its spring locked position; a further object being to provide a lock which permits complete rotation of the key in producing any position thereof, thereby preventing the breakage of said key coinmon to handcu locks as at present constructed; a further object being to provide the manually operable means of such shape and strength as to prevent injury thereto, to make the same independent of the lock elements yand thereby prevent the derangement of said elements and to so place the said means as not to be operable upon said lock elements if accidentally struck; a further object being to provide a manually operable latch tumbler which is entirely independent of the key or of the key tumblers and a still further object being to provide such a lock for handcuifs which is simple in construction and use, which cannot readily get out of order and which is well adapted to the purpose for'which it is designed.

My invention is fully described in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts are designated by the same reference characters in each of the views, and in which Figure l is a face view of a handcu constructed according to my invention, a part thereof being broken away; Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof, on the line 2 2 of Fig. 6, but showing all the lock elements, and in a locked state; Fig. 3 is a similar view with the key tumblers omitted to show the novel elements; Fig. l is a view siniilar to Fig. 3 but with the parts in a spring locked position; Fig. 5 is a similar view but with the parts in an open or unlocked position; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 7 is a view of one of the elements which l employ.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, I have shown a handcuff of the usual form and comprising a radius bar a, a segment bar o provided with teeth b2, pivotally connected at c and provided with the usual link c2, said radius bar being provided with a lock socket a2, a cover a3 therefor, pivots a4 and a5, key post a upon which the key a7 rotates and a segmental passage as for the segment or ratchet bar l).

Mounted upon the pivot a* is a latch cl normally forced outwardly by a spring Z2 and comprising a pointed nose cl3 for engagement with the ratchet bar b and a leg Zt similar to that shown and described in Letters Patent No. 222,751.

Mounted upon the pivot a5 are two key tumblers e and e2 adapted to be moved by the key a7 and having the usual notch or recess e3 and it will be understood that as many of these key tumblers may be employed as may be found desirable, and also mounted on the pivot 1,5 is a latch tumbler f having a nose f2, notch f3 adjacent thereto, dependent foot ft and a spring normally forcing the nose f2 downwardly, and bearing against the foot f* is a pin or plunger f which extends beyond the exterior of the bar a and is movable therein, is preferably made of a cylindrical form tovgain strength and is entirely independent of the lock elements.

Slidably movable in the socket (1.2 is a bolt 7L having key lugs h2, h3 and h4, as clearly shown in Fig. 7, and being provided with an integral block h5 at its outer end and with two projections h6 and if upon opposite sides thereof and serving as guides in the movement of said bolt by means of grooves LS and L" in the lock casing, the projection LT serving also as a stop in connection with the tumblers e, e2 and f, as clearly shown.

Then the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, and the key be rotated in the direction of the arrow, the leaf thereof raises the tumblers e and e2 from their obstructing position adjacent the stop 717 and, continuing, the key engages the lug h2 of the bolt L and moves said bolt backwardly into the position shown in Fig. 4', thereby moving the block from beneath the .latch nose d3, and, :the tumblers having been released by a full turn of the key, the notches 'e3 of said tumblers engage the stop /LT Vand lock .the :bolt in thisv position, permitting movement of the latch d on its pivot and thereby permitting lthe r-atchet bar b to be forced inwardly but preventing @the withdrawal thereof, :this beingl the spring locked position of the handcn, and if it be desired to again lock the same fully, rotation of the key in the opposite dituin'blers c and ve2 Ibeing again raised, the

bo'lt yis yagain :moved yfbackwardl-y Vby the en- -gagement of the key with the lug h3, into the yposition shown in l-Fig. 5, lthus dra-wing the latch Z =out of engagementwith the ratchetbar 'b and, the stop /i7 having reached the yposition o-f the notch f3, fthe latch tumbler f7 drops :and 2locks the bolt /t in this position, this 4result :requiring the complete rotation 4of the key 'and ,permitf ting its removal .from the lock, -other locks of this type requiring ithat a -constant tension be 'kept upon 'the fkey Ain a partially rotated `position in order to ho'ld the lock open against its spring and it is becauseof this fact that so many keys 'are broken and the handcuhms made useless and it is "fre lomen'tly necessary .to destroythe same in the removal thereof. It will be seen,bymycon struction, that greater strain lcannot be eX- lerted iupon the key :than is Irequired to overcome the --springs of the ltumblers and the latch. l/Vhen-theihandcuff is in this open or unlocked position, lit may be closed and car- .ried -in the pocket without fear of itsbeing locked and, lwhen it is desired to place the same Aupon Va person, it is merely Yslipped over the 'hands orfclosed 'about fthe -wrist `in the usual rmannerland the 4plunger jf pressed inwardly, thus raising the tumbler f `out -of engagement with the stop hl and the bolt is carried forwardly Lby the spring action of the latch Zand thehandcufi' lis again spring looked land may 4be readily adjusted to the size ofthe lwrists of the wearer, no fkeyvbeing necessary for this result, and when the fhandoufli hasbeen properly adjusted, the key 'may be inserted and rotated in adirection opposite to the'arrow, the parts ynow'being the position shown in Fig. 2l, and thebolt is shot forwardly -into the position shown in Fig. 2,

whereby "the lblock h5 -is'held lbeneath Ithe nose.

als and movement of .the latch and .of the Iratchet bar prevented. It will "therefore be seenthatone rotation of the key `carries the parts from -a -fully locked -to a spring 'locked condition; another rotation carries the -parts iinto -an open position or another rotation in the V'opposite Adirection carries 'the parts finto their full-y .locked condition and, .when in theopen condition, no key is needed to lock 'the -handcuf Vfin 5place inor for .adjusting the same to various persons.

It will be seen that I place my plunger f .parallel with the axial plane of the radius bar a and project the same through the lock `casing at :an incline to the surface :thereof thereby obviating the necessity for looking or feeling 'for the said plunger as, with the fingers at the end of the bar a, and the hand being' contracted, ythe -thunib naturally-strikes the plungerl f by sliding -down Athe inclined surface of the bar (0 andthe handcufil may 'be quickly .locked yand, because -of this position of'the said plunger-,a blow ,or pressure from practically any possible direction xupont-.he said Y-plunger 4either -m0ves -it outwardly lor doesnot move it'atfa'll and the lock elements are consequentlyinotaffectedby suoli blower pressure, and, because of the fact that Iitis independent lof the llock elements, it may be made of any size,shape or-strength'in order to Iprevent injury thereto by persons attempting to open the'handcu'if inany-:other than the usual manner and, the latch `tumbler 1f being palso :independent lof the other lock elements and of :the key, movement lof the plunger cannot aect the other 'lock ele- 1nents,-and in thecaseV ofineededrepairasaid plunger :f is readily replaced b ecauseof its independence.

'It will be evident ,that various'changes :in and modifications of :the construction shown and described .ma-y be 'made without-departing vfrom .the spirit Athereof' lor sacrificing its advantages, and,

Having lfullydescribedmyinvention,'what fl claim as new and desire to secure lby 'Letters Patent, is-: f

l. A handcuff, comprising a radius bar, a ratchet tbar, a spring latch engaging -said ratchet bar, -a bolt for Alocking said latch against movement, a key -to withdraw vSaid bolt, a tumbler Zto hdld said boltina Awithdrawn position and imeans, exterior of-said elements, for actuating said tumbler to release said bolt.

2. A handcuff, -comprisinga radius bar, a ratchet bar, and 'means for locking 'the 'same together, said Imeans consisting of a :spring latch engaging said 'ratchet bar, a lkey Vfor withdrawing -said latc'h from said bar, a tumbler for holding said latch in -a with# drawn position and a device, independentof said `tumbler and exterior ofsaid locking lmeans =for releasing said Ailatch `from Vsaid tumbler.

3. A handcu'if,comprisinga radius bar,^ a fratchetbar, and ymeans for-lockingthe same together, said means consisting'of -aspring 4latch engaging said `ratchet `bar, a b'o'lt for releasingsaidv latchifrom safid bar, ,a key 'for .moving said bolt, r.a ltumblerfor holding said bolt in abackward `position anda plunger,

independent of and exterior' of said locking means for releasing said bolt from said tumbler.

4. A handcuff, comprising a radius bar, a ratchet bar, and means for locking the same together, said means consisting of a spring latch, means to lock the same against movement, means to release the same from said bar, means to hold the same in a released position and a device, independent oit and exterior of said locking means for permit.- ting said latch to resume its locking position with said ratchet bar.

In a handcuiip comprising a radius bar, and a ratchet bar; a spring latch, a bolt tor actuating the same, a key for actuating said bolt, a spring actuated tumbler for engaging said bolt in its backward position and a plunger extending outside of said radius bar for actuating said tumbler to release said bolt.

6. In a handcuff comprising a radius bar and a ratchet bar; a spring latch, a sliding bolt adapted to engage said latch, a key for moving said bolt, a tumbler, spring actuated in one direction and manually and eXteriorly actuated in the opposite direction, means thereon to engage said bolt when in a backward position to release said bar, said tumbler having a projecting nose, a nose ad jacent thereto and a foot bearing against said manuallyT actuated means.

7. In a handcui lock, a latch, a bolt having a projection thereon for moving said latch, a key for moving said bolt, a tumbler having a notch to engage said projection and an exteriorly operable plunger for releasing said tumbler from said bolt.

ln testimony that l claim the foregoing as my invention l have signed my name in presence of the subscribing witnesses this 8th day of August 1908.

HENRY E. WOOD. Vitnesses:

J. M. MARsHALL, GEO. N. BLAKE. 

